The sad, sad truth behind werewolves

I don't know if this has been done before on here, I did a search on here for this sort of thing and nothing came up, so, here goes. The very sad truth behind a lot of alleged werewolf transformations could be a mental disorder called clinical lycanthropy. It gives people the delusion that they have actually turned into a werewolf. I would provide a link, but, regretably, I forgot how to...but there's a Wikipedia article that you could search up on. I would of liked to believe these werewolf cases, but given the research and circumstances, I just can't.
Sorry, the titles a little bit misleading...

[edit on 2/5/2010 by Dragonfriend]

Enlace gratis:
Clinical Lycanthropy

Despite its lycanthropic nomenclature, it more generally applies to people believing that they transform into animals.

What about werewolves that were never human to begin with?

You know the type that was a huge scary wolf-like humanoid creature for it's whole life.

What of these mythologies? Not all werewolf stories involve human culprits.

Although I do agree that some humans have this disorder where they think they can turn into animals (but can't), I have seen it before.

I recall that the late Fr. Malachi Martin took the notion of werewolves very seriously. There may even be an old show with Art Bell on 'Coast-to-Coast-AM' where Martin spoke with a young man who believed he was a generational werewolf.

There have been other diseases misdiagnosed in time past as somehow related to the werewolf such as lupus.

I do recall a lecture years ago where the internal structure of human bones was compared with other animals and the only other animal to have the same sort of structure and appearance was the wolf. I wish I could put my hands on the notes from that lecture, but that was probably before most of you were born.

I knew a woman who believed she had been bitten by a werewolf. Every full moon she would go through an elaborate ceremony and have herself locked in an iron cage she had bought from a zoo that was closing. She could tell such fascinating tales of her journeys around the world, and on any normal day would just be another grannie at the market. Makes one stop and think about all those one sees at the market!

I've heard alott of crackpottery here on ATS. never any thing about ware wolfs. Thanks for the post, I love reading about mental disorders.

I suggest checking out this series of biography's fallowing people suffering with this illness. en.wikipedia.org...

Yes,this is old news to me. It's basically a form of schizophrenia.

It is very sad I have friend whose brother suffered from a form of that disease but he actually halucinated it was really happening. Just remember because it comes from your mind does not make it a powerfull illness that holds one in terror of what they might do to someone thay care about.

reply to post by fun_with_fur-n-teef


I would assume that is what happens to all of them. They actually think they turn into that. It's a form of schizophrenia. Schizophrenics have either/or auditory and visual hallucinations.

S: (n) schizophrenia, schizophrenic disorder, schizophrenic psychosis, dementia praecox (any of several psychotic disorders characterized by distortions of reality and disturbances of thought and language and withdrawal from social contact)

It is not the same thing as schizophrenia. Very different.

The mind is an amazing thing. I remember as a little kid being convinced I was about to have serious brain damage because I took a quick sniff of airplane glue at a friends house when he was making a model airplane. I didn't know anything about glue and the effects of abuse, but after he told me you could get brain damage, I remember being scared and feeling dizzy and thinking I was going to have a seizure. Heck, I was only 9 or something.

Originally posted by Pellevoisin
I knew a woman who believed she had been bitten by a werewolf. Every full moon she would go through an elaborate ceremony and have herself locked in an iron cage she had bought from a zoo that was closing. She could tell such fascinating tales of her journeys around the world, and on any normal day would just be another grannie at the market.

Loading up on Milk Bones and Dog Chow.

Unfortunately he was 15 or 16 when it started. I will never forget the stoory. When he starts getting really sick again I hear it happens all over again. He just turned 33. He still struggles with it.

Originally posted by muzzleflash

Although I do agree that some humans have this disorder where they think they can turn into animals (but can't), I have seen it before.

Yeah, they're called furries.....

I thought you were going to say that the sad truth is that they dont exist


I was wrong.

i've heard of clinical lycanthropy before. but unfortunately it cannot be the explanation for sightings that people have reported all over. with regard to werewolves, i did a little bit of searching around for people's personal sightings a while ago. there were some very interesting accounts of people seeing a creature that looked like a wolf, ie, furry and with a tail, etc...then in the next moment the creature stood up and became a person, and then just walked away. there are a few different reports of events like this one, and unfortunately clinical lycanthropy cannot explain these events. so to me its still an unsolved mystery as to what people are seeing

reply to post by MrDudle


Uh,"characterizations of distortions of reality,"uh, yeah....I think lycanthropy would certainly fall into that category.



[edit on 26-2-2010 by SpeakerofTruth]

There are those who also believe it’s possible for a person to train themselves to create a shell of energy ( thought-form ) for such a transformation. Some claim to be able to form this shell around them, which is how they explain the huge, humanoid wolf creature version of a werewolf. Others claim they are able to shift their mind, their consciousness, into the thought-form shell, leaving their bodies behind - an out of body experience in which their consciousness rides in/controls the thought-form shell they’ve created. From what I’ve read while researching such topics for novels I’ve written/am writing, the claim is that the former is the safer method. If something, such as a silver bullet, punctures the thought-form shell while the person is inside of it, they person may well be shot, too, depending upon the location of the bullet. But the metal object, bullet or otherwise, is said to pop the thought-form energy shell like a balloon either way. If that happens and the person is inside the shell, their consciousness is said to drop right back into their body, leaving them dizzy, but alive. If the thought-form shell is disrupted without the person’s body being inside it, according to what I’ve read on the subject, then the person’s consciousness has nowhere to go and is lost and the person dies.

Many cultures have legends of such shapeshifting creatures. In America, we’re more familiar with werewolves because of our largely European roots, not to mention Native American skinwalkers and their stories and legends. In Europe, werewolves are the most common were-creature known to myth. But most places have them. You’ll find werebears and werefoxes in Russia’s folklore, werelions and werehyenas in African folklore and so on. Most cultures have some type of shapeshifter legends, as well as reasons to believe that such stories are more than simple myth.

Clinical lycanthropy can account for some such claims along these lines but can it account for all of them? Personally, I don’t think so.

Scott Harper

One of the often forgotten aspects of the werewolf myths is the dark man of the woods. Usually a hunter would summon the devil and a ceremony is performed with a recently killed wolf and the pelt is either made into a belt or worn like a cloak! I had a old book about werewolves that covered that myth. With the "right" mental disorder a person could see themselves as a beast while wearing it.

Yes, wolf pelt cloaks or belts are said by some legends to be a way, or THE way, to become a werewolf. Combine that belief with clinical lycanthropy and you’d likely have a very interesting case to say the least.

Scott Harper

reply to post by EnlightenUp

Despite its lycanthropic nomenclature, it more generally applies to people believing that they transform into animals.

Does that include vampires (bats)???

Peace